Today was a red letter day in the Oak Lodge calendar, as it marked the official launch of our brand new Acorn Club for Children, and what a launch it turned out to be!

Joe, Chloe and Kitty

Dr Bolton and Chloe

Competition time!

Launch day banner

The response has been fantastic already and we would like to wish a very warm welcome to our new members who are now officially either Acorns, Seedlings or Saplings and their parents – we hope you enjoy being members of The Acorn Club and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Did you know that check-ups and hygienist appointments are free for 0-12’s? Check out our benefits table below to see just what your child could be eligible for.

If you would like to find out more about our fantastic new plan for children please do get in touch by calling 01428 723 179 or emailing e.figg@oaklodgedental.co.uk. Alternatively you can read more here.

*Please note that we do not take routine x-rays before the age of 16. Under this age x-rays are only taken when clinically necessary.
**Full insurance details are available on request.

Children’s oral health in the UK has been a hot topic in the news recently, and the team at Oak Lodge have been busy discovering ways that we can help combat the shocking statistics of poor oral health care in our local community.

Tooth decay has become by far the biggest reason why primary school children are admitted to hospital, new research has found. Almost 26,000 children in England aged between 5 and 9 have been hospitalised to have multiple tooth extractions in 2013-14 — the equivalent of nearly 500 a week! (The Sunday Times, 13 July 2014.) The Times also recently produced an article citing that 1 in 8 children in Britain has tooth decay (22 October 2014) and at Oak Lodge we are all very aware that this level of poor oral health can in fact affect a child’s general health for life.

At Oak Lodge, we strongly believe this situation is completely unacceptable and it has prompted us to think deeply about our role in the community and our responsibilities as dental health professionals. As a result we have developed The Acorn Club, which is specifically designed to give all children access to the highest possible quality dental care for little or no cost. The plan is split into four categories, based on the child’s age and dental development:

Acorns

Aged 0 -12 years….Free Of Charge!

Acorns +

Aged 0- 12 years….£3 per month

Seedlings:

Aged 12 -16 years….£4 per month

Saplings:

Aged 16- 18 years….£5 per month

Membership includes:

3 Check-ups with a dentist per year

1 Hygienist Appointment per year

Supplementary Worldwide Dental Emergency Insurance*

50% Off Any Necessary Treatment

*Insurance not applicable for Acorns attending free of charge.

The plan is a fun way to approach and manage childhood dental care, we have prepared a wide range of fun activities and competitions for plan members to help them see the dentist as a fun place to go without fear or pain. Our goal is make a difference to our local community, reducing childhood tooth decay by making great quality dental care more accessible and of course more fun!

We are holding a launch event at the practice from 1:45pm on Monday 27th October, please do come along for more fun, games, competitions and information.

The beginning of September saw us saying goodbye to our previous Associate Dentist Dr Barry Clogher. Barry has left the Oak Lodge team and will be pursuing his passion of all things musical in London, following a ski season abroad.

In order to send Barry off in style, we decided to enjoy an evening of nibbles, a glass of something fizzy and some cake. Little did we expect the amazing baked creation that arrived for us to enjoy!! Carol Day of Cater & Celebrate really pulled out all of the stops with the wonderful themed cake that we received! Cater and Celebrate are a company that provide cakes for special occasions and all events and parties, if you like what you see here please do not hesitate to contact Carol on 07713 135938, (we can vouch for the fact that it tasted as good as it looked!!)

We are now well into our first month with our lovely new Associate, Debbie Davidson and she is settling into the team fantastically. As many of our patients are aware, our Principal Dentist Dr Bolton has worked tirelessly at Oak Lodge with incredible passion and fervor consistently for 25 years and has now decided to reduce his working hours. As we have already received a lot of happy feedback regarding Debbie’s bubbly and caring chairside manner, we look forward to welcoming our new patients into her surgery in the future and are confident that they will find Debbie equally as passionate and considerate as our Principal.

If you are interested in booking in an appointment to meet Dr Davidson or have any questions about our practice, please call 01428 723179 and our lovely reception team will be happy to help.

We are delighted to welcome our new dentist Dr Debbie Davidson to the Oak Lodge team!

Debbie joined Oak Lodge in August 2014. Since graduating in Dentistry from University College London in 1990 and completing her diploma in Dental Sedation, Advanced Local Anaesthesia and Anxiety Management at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital in 2004, Debbie has accrued 17 years of experience at her previous practice. Her excellent standard of quality dentistry and patient care means that we are confident she will continue to provide the high quality of service our patients are used to at Oak Lodge.

She is a caring and highly skilled dentist with a specific interest in cosmetic dentistry, smile design, periodontal disease. Debbie specialises in caring for anxious patients, extreme dental phobics and children, with her approachable and friendly demeanour our patients are already commenting on how at ease they feel under Debbie’s care.

If you would like to make an appointment to see Debbie for a dental check-up or for a more in-depth consultation to discuss a specific issue or treatment, please contact the practice on 01428 723179, our friendly reception team will gladly help arrange a convenient appointment for you.

No matter how wonderful your dress and shoes may be, the most beautiful thing you can wear on your wedding day is your smile!

There are a wide variety of issues many brides-to-be experience in the lead up to their big day that cause them to lose confidence in their smile. Oak Lodge Dental Practice now offers a tailored Wedding Smile Makeover, through which we can help make your smile look its best for your special day. Your Smile Makeover will begin with a detailed consultation. At this consultation your dentist will use the latest in dental photography technology and our in- surgery flatscreens to discuss with you your needs and how best to construct the confident, natural looking smile you desire.

We often speak to patients who are unaware of just how many options there are available to patients looking to improve their smile. The most common issues we are often faced with are:

Discolouration or staining

Broken or fractured teeth

Gaps between teeth

Crowded or twisted teeth

Missing teeth

If any of these concerns apply to you there is no need to worry as there are a wide variety of methods your dentist can use to rectify the problem. These methods can vary from minimally invasive treatment such as cosmetic contouring, or home teeth whitening treatment, through to replacement of missing teeth with dental implants.

At Oak Lodge we also offer a solution to concerns you may have about the appearance of your skin in the lead up to you wedding day. The ageing effects of sun and pollution can be combated through a range of safe and subtle treatments to smooth and reinvigorate your skin. We offer Botox, and Restylane which provide effective treatment for smoothing out lines, creases and wrinkles. Restylane in particular is excellent for eradicating those ageing lines that gather around the lip line.

No matter your concerns with a Smile Makeover our experts can help find a solution to ensure you beam your way through your wedding day! Just call 01428 723179 or email smile@oaklodgedental.co.uk to book your Smile Makeover today.

Congratulations to our very own hygienist Wendy Cassar for having completed the Brighton Marathon in 4 hours 38 minutes! Not only did she beat her personal best but she raised £2000 for Motor Neurone Disease, what a star!!

One marathon in a lifetime would seem enough to satisfy anyone’s desire for an adventure, however the 2014 Brighton Marathon is Wendy’s third! Wendy’s decision to run the 26 miles was for a cause that is very close to her heart, as in October 2013 Wendy’s great friend Lisa Milella was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that affects around 2 in every 100,000 people each year and there are about 5,000 people living with the condition in the UK at any one time. The money Wendy raised is to go towards funding awareness and finding a cure. Wendy’s friend Lisa is a leading animal dentist who, along with Wendy’s husband Paul, completed numerous charity trips to India and Indonesia to help cure the suffering of many animals such as Dancing Bears , slow Loris’ and Orangutans!

There must be something in the air at Oak Lodge as Wendy is not the only one that has donned her running shoes to battle her way through a marathon this month. One of our lovely patients sent us a wonderful email that got all the staff at the practice smiling. ‘KB’ had this to say after having finished the London marathon:

“Just to say thank you so much for all the amazing work on my teeth over the last few months…Here are my super brand-spanking new teeth after running 26.2 miles- thank you!”

So whether it’s running a marathon or something as simple as enjoying a walk in the spring sunshine, make sure you do it with confidence in your beautiful smile!

If you would like to speak to your dentist about feeling more confident about your smile just call Oak Lodge on 01428 723179 today to book a Smile Consultation and find out how we can help you create a smile you can be proud of!

At Oak Lodge Dental Practice we constantly strive to improve the service we provide to our patients. This improvement ranges from considering the clinical quality of the equipment we use, to which magazines we have on offer in the waiting room!

In doing so, we have recently reviewed the various payment schemes we offer at the practice in order to make them as beneficial to our patients as possible. We consider our Denplan Essentials at Oak Lodge scheme perhaps the most cost effective scheme we offer at the Oak Lodge.

We asked Dr Phillip Bolton to explain the plan and its benefits to our patients a bit more:

What is Denplan Essentials at Oak Lodge?

Denplan Essentials at Oak Lodge is our ‘maintenance plan’. The beauty of it is that it greatly helps our patients both organise and budget for their routine dental care. Besides working out as cheaper than ‘paying as you go’ you also gain 10% off any treatment required, so it is a fantastic way to save money too!

What does Denplan Essentials at Oak Lodge get me?

For just £15 a month you are entitled to:

x 2 Routine Dental Examinations a year

x 2 Hygiene Appointments a year

10 % Off All Treatment

Supplementary Dental Emergency Insurance Cover

How is Denplan Essentials different to Denplan Care?

The plan differs from our current Denplan Care scheme, in that once you have attended the practice for your new patient examination you may start the plan and receive your 10% discount straight away, without the need to be deemed ‘dentally fit’. There’s no need for any re-assessments, we won’t place our patients in any categories based on their dental history and the cover is applicable to all, no matter their dental past. It’s a one- size fits all plan- it is that simple!

Are there any further benefits I could receive as a Denplan Essentials patient at Oak Lodge?

There are various further benefits. For example, with each family member registered as a Denplan Essential patient you get an additional 5% off your monthly fee. The plan also provides our patients with Dental Emergency and Injury cover both at home and abroad, with access to a 24 hr worldwide dental emergency helpline. We find this insurance a huge benefit, it gives our patients peace of mind when travelling. Parents of children going to University find this aspect particularly beneficial- as it’s just one less thing for them to worry about!

Are there any restrictions to joining the plan?

There are only a few conditions to joining the plan.

As long as you have had your New Patient Examination here at Oak Lodge you are eligible for Oak Lodge Essentials.

The other is part of the small print is that alongside your first payment there is a £15 registration fee per patient. (I told you it was simple!)

If you are interested in Denplan Essentials at Oak Lodge Dental Practice, just call 01428 723179 to find out more, or just ask any member of staff at your next dental appointment.

The past few days have seen quite a transformation of Oak Lodge Dental Practice. In order to promote our Springtime Whitening Offer the practice has been tickled pink! Besides the pink posters, flowers and ‘Pink Lady’ apples on display we have also been dressing in pink and just generally Thinking Pink!

From the 1st March Oak Lodge are offering our patients £50 off whitening treatment, taking the cost from £440 to just £390!

Teeth whitening may seem like a modern phenomenon, but the practise actually has a very long history. Humans have been concerned with their smiles for hundreds, and even thousands, of years. The age-old practice of teeth whitening remains as popular as ever today and it is one of the great joys of dentistry to give our patients a smile to be proud of.

Oak Lodge Dental Practice offer a home whitening solution. The procedure is very easy and the results can be seen very quickly. There are only two appointments involved. The first is when your dentist will take impressions, these are sent away to a laboratory and some special trays are made up to shape your own teeth. These trays are a bit like a gum shields and are worn overnight. At the next appointment your dentist will check your trays fit and talk you through the simple instructions. Most patients find that wearing the trays overnight produces the best results.

So, if you would like a smile to be proud of and to take advantage of the fantastic £50 discount now on offer at Oak Lodge, just call 01428 723179 to book an appointment, or speak to a member of staff at the practice at your next visit!

At Oak Lodge Dental Practice we are all for any excuse to get people puckering up! So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day and the season of love we are urging our patients to get ‘kiss- ready’ and to share their smiles with their loved ones.

One of the best ways of maintaining good oral health is by a trip to the hygienist. As well as providing a scale and polish to get you ‘gleaming while your beaming’, a hygienist holds a wealth of valuable advice on how to best maintain your oral hygiene yourself.

Happily, we boast the services of three fantastic hygienists here at Oak Lodge. All of whom hold the importance of your confidence in your smile at the core of what they do. So next time you visit Oak Lodge Dental Practice be sure to book your hygienist visit and get Kiss Ready!

At Oak Lodge Dental Practice we endeavor to always deliver the very latest dentistry by using the latest equipment and techniques available to us and this does not exclude our reception area. In an age when the use of tablets is becoming increasingly popular the practice has introduced the use of our brand new ‘Clinipad’.

The Clinipad allows Oak Lodge Dental Practice a big leap ahead in its task to become a ‘paperless practice’. As a patient, the main difference you will notice is that we no longer ask you to fill in a paper Medical History form, instead a few simple clicks and a signature and all of your details are transferred directly to our records.

For us the Clinipad means a big reduction in the administration time for your dentist, allowing them more time to concentrate further on treating you, the patient.

In trialing the Clinipad at the practice we have found that our patients are enjoying the introduction of the tablet, they find it quick and simple to use and as of yet we have not had the Clinipad returned without a patient commenting on it and smiling. And for that very reason it is a definite hit with us!

As ever, we revolve around the views of our patients and love to hear your feedback about all aspects of the practice. So please let us know what you think of the Clinipad next time you visit Oak Lodge Dental Practice…